Clanking sheets of metal echoed like chimes of bone through the empty lane. The stars had receded behind a sooty blanket which held the promise of sleet to come before dawn. There were no threatening shadows to loom over me, but there wasn’t a soul in sight either. And that clotted my bloodstream with unease just as spontaneously as the appearance of a monster in the perturbed dark.

It had been over a week since I saw Junhong at school, or even outside of his loft. I figured he was either ill or had left temporarily, because the teachers hadn’t brought his absence to attention, and no one had visited the apartment during his ten days of reclusion. Despite the anger that had been exchanged between us near the time he disappeared, I was unreasonably concerned. After all, he was my neighbor, along with the sole reason that I hadn’t been abducted or murdered. On a couple of occasions, I knocked on his loft door and offered to get anything he needed while I went to buy groceries. But not a sound responded to my proposition, so I left a few essentials outside of his door; all of them went undisturbed, as if his door hadn’t been opened since I heard it close the last time.

On the twelfth night, I strayed slightly from the streetlights, pressed nearer to the buildings in an attempt to stay off the slicks of ice closer to the road. The weather was only becoming more unbearable as the winter proceeded, making me worry over the risk of my utilities being cut abruptly. I’d only just been able to afford the heated water and electricity – if I lost it now, I would have to resort to a public shelter or the subway to avoid freezing.

My mind, having strayed onto a tangent of worries concerning my budget, influenced the feet below them to direct off path. It took only one misplaced step and slipped on a frozen puddle, consequently skidding onto my hands and knees. Having landed loudly in the open jaws of an alley, I glanced around me to check for any witnesses; of course, the street was void of life. A glance into the alleyway was pointless, and I was lifting myself back onto my heels when a low groan raised goose-bumps on my covered skin.

To my left, behind a pile of heaped cardboard and trash bags, a pair of legs jutted out from the right wall, their owner obscured by the rubbish. The rate of my heartbeat peaked when I recognized the lankiness of the form, along with the black pants that I had first seen thirteen nights ago.

I recovered my footing and immediately hurried over to kneel down beside Junhong, my hands automatically grasping his shoulders and shaking him urgently. “Junhong-ssi! Junhong, are you alright!?” His face was even paler than usual, the state of his curly hair unkempt and limp with exhaustion. Even in the extreme cold, I saw a bead of sweat roll down his curved throat, as if he had exerted himself beyond the bounds of physical endurance to get here. He truly looked sick.

My touch hardly stirred his death mask, eyes remaining shut when I tugged at his shirt. “Get up, Junhong-ssi. We need to get you inside, it’s gonna snow again. I’m not letting you die twenty feet from my loft.” A barely discernable moan of protest bubbled from his lips as I hooked my elbows underneath his arms and hoisted him up